I'm Corley, and I'm crafty…

Tag Archives: shopping bag

It feels like it’s been forever since I last posted. And I really have no excuse, except that darn shopping bag.

That bag and I have been around the world (not literally), and we’ve had quite an adventure. But let me just start at the beginning…

(cue the mystical music and wavy lines for flashback)

As you know, it all started on the beach in Florida. I was working so hard on my Provence Summer String Bag, and doing quite well, may I add. I had chosen a beautiful purple yarn and was trucking right along.

And then I made the most amateur of mistakes.

I had gotten all the way to the top section of the bag, where i would make handles, when I realized I would not have enough yarn.

i was soooo close to being finished!

Stupid!

The yarn I had used was from Michaels, and the closest store to me is 2.5 hours away. And of course they make things difficult by not having an online store. I couldn’t find my yarn anywhere in the web universe. And the yarn was bought over a year ago, so the chances of finding the same lot number when I finally did make it to a Michaels store were slim to none.

(here comes the part where I’m brave and amazing)

Instead of being a quitter and tossing the bag aside, I came up with the fabulous solution to use another color along with the purple and make my bag striped. This meant, however, that I would have to unravel 90% of what I had already stitched, going back to the base of the bag.

Oh man. That part sucked big time.

But it was also a little fun pulling out all those stitches, my own tiny version of rebellion. I rewound my purple yarn and prepared to start over.

This project had quite a few firsts for me: first time to crochet something bigger than a hat, first time to use the treble crochet stich, and now first time EVER to use more than one color in a project. And that was a huge first for me! Even going back to my knitting days (both with needles and looms) I had never been brave enough to use two colors. I’m such a chicken.

So, a loooong month later I finally stitched my last stich and hid my last loose end on that blasted bag. It looks fabulous, but I’m so burnt out by it that I’m putting it away for a couple of months. I’m so sick of looking at it! When I do come back to it I’ll appreciate it so much more than I do now.

I'm actually proud of myself, no matter how frustrated it made me.

i'm glad my stripes ended up so nicely.

Now I’ve moved on to my next project, the Urban Revival beanie, a pattern by Vickie Howell. Instead of the turquoise color, I chose sunflower yellow, which will look so lovely this summer. When I’m done with it I’ll post all about that mini adventure. (I’m sure it will be nothing compared to the shopping bag incident.)

In other news, this July I’m part of a project called Hookin’ Up, which is a cool way to learn about other crochet blogs out there in blogland. Poppy&Bee will be reviewing me on July 18, and I’ll be reviewing All the Strange Hours on July 19. I’m really excited about it! Find out more about all the blogs involved here, and check back on July 19 for my next post.